Consciousness

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Scientific Study of Consciousness
Jeanna Bryner (Top Ten Mysteries of the Mind, LiveScience.com)

When you wake up in the morning, you might perceive that the Sun is just rising, hear a few birds chirping, and maybe even feel a flash of happiness as the fresh morning air hits your face. In other words, you are conscious. This complex topic has plagued the scientific community since antiquity. Only recently have neuroscientists considered consciousness a realistic research topic. The greatest brainteaser in this field has been to explain how processes in the brain give rise to subjective experiences. So far scientists have managed to develop a great list of questions.

Buddhist Study of Consciousness: Abhidharma

N.K.G. Mendis (Access to Insight)

The Abhidharma forms the third part of the Pali Canon. The other two parts are the Code of Discipline for monks and nuns (Vinaya), and the Discourses (Sutra). The word Abhi-Dharma means "Higher-Teaching" because it treats subjects exclusively in an ultimate sense.

This differs from the Discourses where there is often the use of expressions valid only from the standpoint of conventional truth. In the Abhidharma the philosophical standpoint of the Buddha is given in a pure form without admixture of personalities, anecdotes, or discussions. It deals with realities in detail and consists of numerous classifications [of consciousness].

These may at first discourage the prospective student. However, if one perseveres one will be able to derive much benefit in life-situations from the practical application of the knowledge gained through study of the Abhidharma.

The Buddha preaching the Abhidharma in the Tavatimsa Celestial World (Indira Gandhi Nat'l Center tdil.mit.gov.in)

Origins
Theravada tradition holds that the Buddha conceived the Abhi-dharma in the fourth week after his enlightenment, while still sitting in the vicinity of the Bodhi tree. Tradition also has it that he first preached it an assembly of deities (devas) in the Tavatimsa Celestial world. His mother, reborn as a deity, was present in the assembly.

The Buddha alighting from Tavatimsa to teach the Abhidharma to Sariputra (tdil.mit.gov.in)

This can be taken to mean that the Buddha, by intense concen-tration, transcended the earth-bound mentality and rose mentally to the world of the deities, a feat made possible by his attainment of higher powers (abhiñña) through the perfection of mental concentration. Having preached the Abhidharma to the deities, he returned to earth, that is, to normal human consciousness. He then taught it to the venerable Sariputra, the enlightened disciple who was regared as "foremost in wisdom." More >>